◼ How do we balance economic and environmental concerns while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions due to human activity? - Ron Fournier/National Journal
They're playing you for fools on both sides of the Keystone XL pipeline debate. Oil lobbyists and conservatives call it a jobs project; they're wrong. Environmental lobbyists and liberals call it a globe killer; they're wrong....
In fact, Obama's own State Department has determined that Keystone would not make climate change any worse. While the oil type envisioned for Keystone produces 17 percent more greenhouse gases than typical crude oil, the State Department concluded that, even without the pipeline, producers likely would find another way to sell the oil.
In other words, the environmental concerns over Keystone are much ado over almost nothing. That hasn't stopped environmental and liberal groups from making the "dirty oil" argument to the media, politicians, and donors.
The president has properly raised doubts about the jobs figures circulated by Keystone advocates. Typical of the type is GOP Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, who said of Obama on Sunday: "His own State Department said it's 42,000 new jobs."
Glenn Kessler, the impartial and thorough fact checker at The Washington Post, called that claim misleading.
